New Google Adwords Interface Still Has Issues

In most posts I have written about functions I like in the new AdWords interface – and I still do. But I do have a problem with Google sending out notices that the new AdWords interface is about to become permanent when it still has some bugs to be worked out. Here is a list of the issue areas that I have identified just days from the Full Release of the new Google Adwords interface.

Good web developers test their work across multiple browsers in order to ensure the site renders properly. From Internet Explorer, to Firefox, to Opera and Safari, designers understand that not everyone has the same browser, let alone the same operating system. Such a simple error should have been caught by Google’s QA and not an advertiser.

Date Range for All Accounts in MCC

I don’t know if you can call this a ‘bug’, per se, but this feature was something that was extremely useful for internet marketers who track and enter account data on a daily basis. If you logged in to your MCC, selected the first account and then applied the date range of "This Month" to the account, this date range carried across all accounts linked to that MCC (unless someone logged in under the same Username and started changing it-which isn’t Google’s fault).

So, collecting data for all of your clients every day was easy. You could select the date range you wanted and then begin moving from one account to another collecting their data for the exact same date range.

Now, each account seems to open up with random date ranges applied to them. From "Custom Range", to "Today" to "This Month". I’ve not investigated this in depth, so it may be the last range applied to each account that shows. But that fact that the MCC can no longer carry a standard date range across all linked accounts is disappointing. It will mean that marketers will have to take extra time every single day. Time that will add up.

I for one, enjoy the innovations that are being made by Google. But these are some things that I have identified and need to be worked on.

What are you noticing about the new AdWords interface that is annoying you? Well, other than those of you who "just don’t like it"…

A PPC extraordinaire, Mr Hogan can be found deep in the anals of PPC admins everywhere. Researching, administering and writing. Sometimes he even finds the time to contact the outside world with a blog or two.

A PPC extraordinaire, Mr Hogan can be found deep in the anals of PPC admins everywhere. Researching, administering and writing. Sometimes he even finds the time to contact the outside world with a blog or two.

Post a Comment

5 Comments

My problem is when accessing the MCC using a central email address and modifying budgets. For most of my accounts it’s not an issue, but one of them for some reason causes me to lose access to the MCC and instead shows me to be logged in under the individual account email address (despite all cookies being wiped), surely a bit of a security hole.

I for one, think the new interface is absolutely dreadful and it isn’t working correctly in the latest Firefox version 3.5.1.

When I try and select an Adgroup I get the following error message:

“There was an error with your operation. If you were trying to make a change, it may not have saved.
Please refresh this page to try again.
Please sign in to AdWords again.
If the error continues, log out of your AdWords account, then log in again and return to this page”

I’ve tried refreshing and tried making various FF changes – all to no avail.

Any suggestions? At the moment, I’m using Google Chrome but prefer FF when it decides to work correctly.

It’s surprising that Google is going to make the new interface a permanent one. Normally it takes ages for a Google product to come out of BETA. As the post shows there are obvious issues to be sorted out in the interface. I have heard about the interface crashing and the user getting thrown out of the client’s account back to the MCC account. Also I find the interface pretty complex, it really confuses you with all the new terminologies and options. Google should have given some more thought before making the new interface a standard.